“His tears never stopped. He was on his knees and prayed for salvation. To whom? He didn’t know. He mourned. Never moving despite his body starving. Never moving despite being ravaged by the world. He was pecked by birds. Rats nibbled away at his shoes and feet. Yet he did nothing.”

==========================================================================

“Where do you need me?” Edward asked the soldier behind the desk.

“Go help the medics bandage the wounded. There were a lot this time, unfortunately.” He answered back.

After the battle, they had ordered him to report to the desk for task assignments.

Luckily, Edward knew where he should go, and easily headed towards the wounded to offer whatever help they needed.

Small problem. Edward should know how to bandage properly and take care of whatever first aid needs the wounded had, but he didn’t have conscious access to it, so he could only wing it, and hope for the best.

He’d proved to himself that he had access to skills he otherwise shouldn’t have when he used the machinegun despite not even knowing how to turn the safety off or reload, and really wasn’t too worried about not knowing what to do, as he expected it to happen naturally when the time came.

The tent was a flurry of activity with the worst injuries already having been taken care of, despite there still being many that needed medical attention.

He took a few bandages that had been placed on the table beside the entrance and went to work on the first soldier he saw.

“Eddie? Oh god, I’d rather just amputate my arm.” The soldier exclaimed.

“Yeah, well, I’ll make sure they chop off the wrong one if you don’t stand still.” Edward smoothly deflected, loving the camaraderie between the soldiers. Everyone seemed to know him, and he wanted to return the favour.

“Ooh, scary.” He joked back.

It was a deep claw wound on his upper left arm; with Edward carefully putting the bandage close to the wound, wanting to see if he gained some hints at what he should do.

He just got a feeling for what he should do and in what order to specifically treat an upper arm wound.

First, pressing it against the wound with the bandage to tightly wrap it, so it would prevent blood from coming out of the wound, but not too tight to stop the blood going to the arm, although depending on the severity of the injury it might be necessary to wrap it so tightly that blood-flow was stopped entirely.

He skilfully and quickly wrapped the bandage around the soldier’s arm.

“Oh? It’s actually not too bad. This seems to be above your usual standard. I remember you being so crap at this, that we usually wondered why the didn’t just let you help with the clean-up instead.” He said, lightly flexing his arm to make sure the bandage was wrapped tightly.

“Hey doctor, I need to saw off this guy’s arm, do you have a bone saw?” Edward yelled to the nearest medic and turned back around to see the soldier he’d bandaged dashing out the tent.

“Never mind! He’s healthy!”

He didn’t fail to notice that the soldier said he was unusually adept at bandaging, either meaning that Edward held back his skill at bandaging, he’d gained it when he took over, or he’d gotten an ability that let him learn quicker.

He practically bounced onto the next soldier that was standing in queue, who had a loose bandage wrapped around his head, probably smacked in the head by an ape. Again, he got strong hints on how to bandage properly, doing it even faster than last time, now that he wasn’t bantering, the soldier obviously not being in the proper state of mind for it.

The soldier was dizzy and needed to be helped out of the chair after his head had been wrapped.

“Woah, steady, if you fall because you smacked your head, I’m not bandaging you again.” Edward said as he helped to soldier to his feet, who only responded with a grunt, and led him to another chair so he could get back to bandaging.

“Next!” He said, and turned to the next soldier, who almost fell in the chair, and was pale from blood loss.

“Ouch, looks bad, no problem though, because you have the best bandager in the entire army looking after you.” He said reassuringly, hoping he had the skill to be.

His back had a distinct 3 claw mark scratch, stopping just before his spine, luckily not paralyzing him.

His statement must’ve been true, because the bandages he used fit so snugly on the man’s upper body looked like they were custom made.

Helping him lie down on his stomach on an empty bed, he quickly went to work on the next one.

There were around 800 soldiers in the battle, and at best a fourth and at worst a third of the soldiers had been injured, or around 200 to 250 soldiers.

Luckily, he was getting faster. By the 8th soldier, he was doing in within just 30 seconds. That included removing or cutting off any fabric that was in the way.

He quickly and efficiently bandaging the soldiers have done a dozen in 10 minutes.

The other attending soldiers had to be very good too, as the queue was empty at 20 minutes, every casualty having been bandaged or operated on.

Mimicking everyone else, he sat down to relax and quietly joined the chat that was already going on between the soldiers.

“You know, these damn monkeys, that the third time in 3 months! Surely, they have to be lacking in numbers to pull of these attacks often.”

“At least it’s good practice for when we have to fight the warlord’s men. I’m bored out of my mind. My daily duties only take up 3 or 4 hours each day. What do I do for the other 20 hours? Masturbate? I’m even considering if I should ask someone from Gay squad to help me out…”

“If it’s bothering you that much, I can slice it off. That’ll solve your problem. I can also get someone to sign you up for guard duty. You can have my post at the southern tower. That’ll easily fill out 6 more hours a day.”

The complaining soldier quickly shut up and covered his crotch when he was offered to have it sliced off, and given guard duty, causing everyone else to laugh, including himself.

After a moment, he slumped. “I just wish I could get back to my girl, you know? Why can’t we just go all murder spree on that Dickwaffle’s men? They don’t got crap on us.”

“And yes, I know it’s because of the slaves, but it’s been 7 months, and we haven’t even attacked him once. His slaves are probably already dying off because he can’t afford to feed them…”

The atmosphere turned wistful. Some soldiers stared into the air with a distant look.

Edward saw his opportunity to gain some information and carefully asked: “Why can’t we just infiltrate and be taken as slaves? Should be easy enough if we look a bit weaker…”

The soldier beside him said comfortingly: “I know how you feel. They have my sister too. She’s a bit younger than your brother. I would do anything to see her again…”

Edward did everything he could to not freeze up.

‘John is…A SLAVE?! TO SOME CRAPPY WARLORD?! It’s no wonder I’m so strong, it’s a game, so of course my strength is here for a reason, to save my brother from the warlord.’

Masking his shock, he hugged the soldier to comfort him back, whilst his mind was a whirlwind of activity.

‘It’s a no brainer to go get him, any game worth its salt would have you rescue your brother, the sooner the better…I don’t know if I can do it alone, wait, this guy just said they have is sister too, and it’s obvious from the casualness of the conversation that it’s normal for soldiers to want to simply attack the warlord.’

‘Can I use that? If soldiers want to attack the warlord to either go home or rescue family members and loved ones. Wanting to rescue family members or loved ones is an excellent motive to do so. I need to see if there is a possibility to convince anyone to leave with me…Can we even survive in the wild? I think yes, we carried the bear from a small mountaintop, down to the camp in the valley without having too much trouble. I assume that wildlife isn’t always deadly, and that it’s at least possible to do it if you have the skills. Maybe I can convince the person who said his sister was a slave to join me.’

He needed more information, so he quietly asked: “you said she was younger than my brother? Tell me about her...” Trying to figure out how old his own brother was, whilst trying to comfort the soldier who was obviously sharing his own grief.

“Come, let’s take a walk.” He said and stood up, motioning for Edward to follow, who waved softly goodbye to the other soldiers.

They strolled through the camp. The sun was setting, and it was dimming. A cool temperature surrounded them.

“My sister? She’s 8, your brother was 9, right? I remember you shared it once.” Edward nodded to confirm, mentally noting how his brother was now 9, “Anyway, she’s like my little angel, you know…We found a kitten once, and the moment we said she could keep it, she carried it around like it was her greatest treasure, never leaving it out of her sight, just normal kid stuff.” He swallowed before continuing, “When I was younger, I always thought it funny how parents reacted to every little thing their child did, never once questioning why.”

“But when I found out they’d taken her, that’s when I realized how much I loved her, how much she would need me going forward, I-…I just want to be there for her. I can’t imagine what she’s going through.” He said. He was trembling, and his fists were clenched until they were white from the tension.

He tried to relax and ended with, “I know my story isn’t very original. It’s probably quite similar to yours, but it’s why I joined the army. To find her. I wasn’t there when his men raided the village. I was fooling around with a girl in the forest, and to this day, I don’t know whether or not I should have. Because I’d probably just have been killed like most of the others, or I’d have become a slave, unable to save her.”

He paused when he arrived at the camps exit, looking longingly into the darkness, before turning around to walk towards the open area, Edward followed suit, although he knew for certain he was going into the darkness someday soon, he owed his brother at least that much.

They walked in silence for a while before Edward said: “My brother,” he started slowly, “Is kind, kinder than I am, stronger too. I’ve never quite understood him, there’s always been a rift between us, one that’s still there, even now…Just before we got separated, I learnt something about him, something that would’ve let us become closer, perhaps even close the rift entirely. It was an opportunity staring me in the face, and I didn’t take it.”

He paused, not really sure on how to continue, “I…I’ve always loved him, but in a way, I’ve also been envious. He had something I didn’t, something I could never get. Talent.” He said earnestly.

“I wanted some of that talent for myself, but I couldn’t take it from him, so I blamed him for it. I got what I wanted, and now he’s a slave for a warlord.” He hadn't entirely processed that part yet, that now he was really strong and had to go save his now much younger brother.

Edward stopped and took a gamble, hoping he was making the correct decision, asking: “I just realized I never really caught your name. Would you mind sharing it?” This could invalidate a lot of the progress he’d made, but he needed to know his name for the next question to have the best effect.

The soldier smiled gently and said, “Sure, my name is David.” Edward locked eyes with David and said, “Then, David, I need to ask you an important question.”

David’s demeanour changed when he saw how serious Edward was. He stood with his back straight and didn’t shy away from Edward's gaze.

Edward chewed on his choice of words for a second, and looking around to make sure no one overheard them before saying: “I’m going to get my brother, do you want to join me?” He’d decided to leave immediately after hearing his brother was a slave, they joined this world through a game console and if it was anything like a game, something terrible would happen if he waited for the army to eventually free the slaves.

David didn’t answer but stared straight into Edwards’ eyes, as if to study if he was serious. Edward didn’t shy away, but waited for David’s reply.

David didn’t answer but asked, “Your brother was taken months ago, as was my sister. Why now, and why me?”

A careful question, but not a refusal, so Edward answered: “I realized not too long ago that the army can’t move, no matter how much it wants to. They’re there to protect the people, and they can’t attack because said people would simply be used as human shields.”

“I’m operating not as a hero, but as an individual. I don’t believe my brother will survive if I wait for the army to get an opportunity to attack, so I will put the other slaves at risk to save him. What I’m planning would get me executed. I got caught.”

“I ask again, will you join me, so you can save your sister? Younger slaves are unlikely to last, which is why it’s a race against time.”

He’d said it, intentionally rushing ahead without really planning anything. He didn’t know how common stories like family being taken in for slavery were, but someone with a younger sibling, a sister especially, was a perfect target for recruitment. He needed to save John.

So, now he’d either escape now without any supplies, or get caught when David ratted him out.

Neither person said anything, several moments going by before David resolutely said: “I’ll join you.”

Edward smiled, “We’ll need some supplies, rifles will be too loud, and we need to slim down if we’re going to be mistaken as slaves, essential items only. What do you suggest?”

The decision was made. David seemed to almost be relieved. Thinking quickly, he said. “I think, if we’re supposed to be quick on our feet and cover our trail, we only need very few things, rope, extra knives, a shovel perhaps, and matches for torches or a flashlight so we can travel during the night.”

“Don’t forget bandages, since we’re probably going to get attacked by the wildlife.” Edward added as a final item, he was going tonight, despite it being only his first day in the new world.

“let’s go quickly before we sneak out past one of the gates. We need to leave. Tonight.”

They split up, sneakily and quickly gathering whatever they needed, and whilst Edward didn’t know where everything was, he could easily find it in the labelled crates.

He took 20 meters of rope, and 3 extra knives, whilst David took two shovels, matches for starting fires and several flashlights.

They did, of course, take food for emergencies, but speed was the primary concern, and they both agreed to simply hunt as they travelled.

Luckily, there wasn’t a curfew because Edward was a sergeant. He could come and go whenever he pleased, and they were let through the gates without too much hassle, they just had to lie about when they were planning to return.

They got some weird looks with their equipment, but no one commented on it.

David assured Edward that the warlord was north, and as such, they left through the northern gate, trying to mask that they were, in fact, going north.

They walked casually into the night, hoping no one would wonder about their destination until it was too late to stop them.